Do you believe?! No this isn't going to be a blog about faith or religion it is a blog of questioning for you- my question today is do you believe in yourself?
The importance of self belief is something that people can often overlook and can be deemed as un important. Self belief brings on a confidence that can empower us to an entire new level of success and happiness. But in order for this to happen you really need to believe. It is after all self belief that gets everything going.
Do you take notice of how you talk to yourself or your thought patterns around what you are doing? This is an area that I am really working on in my own life. We are our own worst critics before our external critics weigh in with their opinions.
Not a uniquely female issue but perhaps more prominent; is how women talk to themselves on a daily basis. "You are fat, you are ugly, you need to lose weight, you can't do that, you won't get that job, you can't start a company, he/she won't like me, I am not good enough, I can't run that fast, I am to fat to run, I can't lift that, I couldn't go there I am not good enough...." the list is endless and it is a list that needs to be cut RIGHT NOW. This isn't easy initially but when you become aware of your internal voice you can silence her pretty quickly. Think of yourself as a young girl maybe 8 and imagine saying all those horrible things to her. You wouldn't and you shouldn't speak to your adult self like that either.
Fostering a positive confident self image is one of the most important jobs you will have in this life. Remember the one key ingredient here Positivity and a positive attitude will never work against you. Don't get confused between arrogance and confidence as these two things are so different, building a strong confidence will be key to you performing well across all sectors of your life.
A great way to change your negative relationship with yourself is identifying times when you are negative on yourself and holding that thought, realising it and flipping it with a positive. You might have to do this through doing something that makes you feel better so exercise here or talking to something that lifts you up. But you can get rid of that thought and flood your mind with good strong positive energy and thoughts. To find this balance, it will be repetition and daily habits that need to be practised.
The power of your mind is something often we under estimate, but we all have triggers and people that make us feel good, happy, safe and then there is others than leave us feeling drained, emotional and to some degree a little agitated. Sometimes this is unavoidable especially now with the mass social media presence in all our lives and the persona that many display on line which is in fact not remotely true to their lives whatsoever. Social Media should be treated with a grain of salt attitude and if it's something that leaves you feeling not good about yourself then my advice is to log off and only log on when you are in a good place.
I have daily routines to switch on, switch in and switch off and I have found a marked improvement in my concentration, my happiness levels and have now a place I can go to get the beautiful calm sensation that normally would take 3 weeks in Thailand to find! I work on my body everyday so in my opinion should I not pay my mind the same respect?!
Simple five minutes of deep breathing and focusing and setting out my day in the morning, 15 minutes in the evening before training to switch into myself and my body so I am engaged in every movement and my body is in sync with my mental training goals and finally five minutes of powering down breathing at night. This powering down leaves you feeling so rested that a powerful sleep always follows and we all know the importance of a good nights sleep.
Remember one thing that everything in this life is won above your shoulders...your mind will always determine how the battle is lost and won.
